Sunday, October 11

Geek

Daily News Stuff 11 October 2026

Box That Goes Ping Edition

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  • My emulated fantasy 10-bit 80s home computer has two synthesizers: A wavetable synthesizer (something rare in home computers of any period but the Apple IIgs from 1986 has this), and a simpler fixed-function digital synthesizer based on a limited set of waveforms, easier to implement but needing multiple voices to work together to produce appropriate harmonics that a wavetable synth generates directly.

    That second synthesizer sucked yesterday; as of today with tuning against real instrument samples it's sounding like a Yamaha synthesizer that doesn't have an insect in its power supply but in some cases needs one.  Cymbals last I checked still sounded like gongs, resonating freely when struck.  Gongs also sounded like gongs, which in that case is good.

    Update: Cymbals no longer sound like gongs, but they are not good.  Also updated the tracker to optionally add up to 30 milliseconds of skew between the notes of the various synthesizer voices so that an orchestra pieces sounds like an orchestra and not like...  Well, not like a synthesizer.  The difference is dramatic.


Musical Interlude





Disclaimer: Well, that explains it.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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1 Umm. . . how much have you spent on the synth hardware? It sounds like it'd be fun to play with. (But I'm sure your software tinkering is beyond me.)
I'm really impressed with what you've been working on.

Posted by: furball321 at Sunday, October 11 2026 11:46 PM (nzXoV)

2 Yeah, I was thinking of putting on my next resume that my windows skills are XP/7. I'm a little worried that me not being willing to use Windows 11 is a disabling mental illness, and that I need to talk myself down from that position instead of embracing it.

Posted by: PatBuckman at Monday, October 12 2026 12:00 AM (6eVrQ)

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Apple pies are delicious. But never mind apple pies. What colour is a green orange?




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